The Bible passage for mediation, prayer, and reflection for the week of May 7-13, 2017, is Job 38:1-18. Job finally hears the Lord speak! Job has been suffering through physical pain and emotional pain. He is tired from defending himself to his friends who will not believe that he did nothing to incite God’s wrath against him. The Lord speaking to him, answering him! It is what he has been waiting for, asking for, wishing for, praying for.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now your loins like a man, and I will demand of you, and you declare to Me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare to Me, if you have and know understanding. Who determined the measures of the earth, if you know? Or who stretched the measuring line upon it? Upon what were the foundations of it fastened, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors when it broke forth and issued out of the womb?—When I made the clouds the garment of it, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and marked for it My appointed boundary and set bars and doors, and said, Thus far shall you come and no farther; and here shall your proud waves be stayed? Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place, so that [light] may get hold of the corners of the earth and shake the wickedness [of night] out of it? It is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed; and things stand out like a many-colored garment. From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken. Have you explored the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know it all. (Job 38:1-18, AMP)

Who hasn’t, at some point in their life, questioned God’s actions in their life? It is not always easy to understand God’s work in our life. Rarely does God work the way we expect, the way we plan, the way we want. Job thought that when he finally confronted the Lord, he would be told that he was blameless and given the reason for his torment. He did not expect to be chastised by the Lord! This passage is a reminder to all Christians in difficult times: we are not God! We do not see all! We do not know all! We are not all powerful! God, and God alone, is in control of everything! We need to stop trying to take control of our lives from God. As you meditate on, pray over, and reflect upon this week’s verse, consider who is in charge of your life?